Present day practice in the dental clinics practicing operative dentistry gives rise to the possibility of needle sticks when a needle is attached to a syringe for the purpose of injecting a patient with an anesthetic. The needle is normally attached to the syringe by holding the needle and twisting or pushing the syringe onto a cap of the needle to attach them together. Although several devices have been proposed to prevent such needle sticks, such devices exhibit drawbacks.
For example, one such device includes a cardboard or plastic shield that is fitted over the protective sheath, containing the needle, when the needle is attached to the syringe. Since the user's hand is holding a shield, the user remains susceptible to a needle stick. Further, current procedures in respect to the use of syringes induces cross-contamination with no provision for safely resheathing a needle.